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She’s back.
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And this time she brought reinforcements.
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She was running to and fro, across our deck, up and over the roof.
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Plotting her next invasion location.
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But the worst part?
Look….
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She’s trying to recruit the grey squirrels!
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I want to stay mad at them.
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But when they’re this damn cute?
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It’s hard.
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They’re leaving my flowers alone for now.
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And seem to be satisfied stealing the deer apples.
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Cute little buggers.
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We had a spell of wicked dry weather this summer. No rain for weeks… so everything was brown and dry.
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Including the chucker family. They’re too short to reach the bird bath I kept filling, so I took to offering them a drink on their level.
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I’d never watered woodchucks before and wasn’t sure how they’d take to it….
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But the poor thirsty things ran right to the bowl as soon as I walked back into the house.
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Guess they needed something to wash down those weeds.
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I used to have 3 bushy coleus.
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And then I noticed they’d been nibbled.
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Every morning when I woke up they were a little smaller.
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Until all that was left were the nubs. It’s not woodchucks, and this tiny garden bed is right alongside the kitchen door by the garage, the deer won’t come in that close.
An unidentified muncher.
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Who left me one leaf to remember them by.
😨
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When the nightly buffet of apples and deer grain is laid…
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I also put out some special grain free dry dog food with taurine for the fox and skunks.
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Problem is the woodchucks and ducks like it as well and scarf it up quickly.
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But sometimes they have competition.
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And a stand off with Starlings begins.
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Sometimes it gets physical.
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Every night at dusk, the skunks show up.
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It’s usually too dark to take pictures through the window, but last week they arrived early.
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And trust me, they really are fun to watch.
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Of course, sometimes….
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They don’t get along.
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And it’s on!
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There’s a lot of squealing….
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A lot of posturing and tail raising..
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But more often than not….
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They settle in and eat side and side.
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No air freshener required.
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And though it’s not riveting footage, here’s a little skunk video for your viewing pleasure.
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What… you were expecting Christ and the Madonna?
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Sorry, wrong blog.
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On my page you get momma chucker and the baby that sticks close to her side.
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She’s started to swat them away when they try to nurse….
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But brings them to the buffet every day.
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Happily they love to eat broad leaf weeds.
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Because momma’s not sharing her apples.
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Starling photo bomb on the left.
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The little guys (girls?) are branching out and feeling more comfortable in the backyard.
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We often see 3 but rarely all 4.
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Momma wanders off now and then but usually shows up at apple time.
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Not that she shares mind you.
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As much as I despise them for eating my flowers, it’s hard to stay mad when you see the little ones scampering around.
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Our backyard has been seeing a lot of visitors lately.
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And baby chucks are learning where the buffet is located.
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Yes, damn it.
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She’s still here.
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I don’t think momma Chuck is enjoying the competition for apple slices.
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But babies like the grain as well. And climbing in the food bowl is always fun.
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One brave little chucker ventured out from under the barn to have a nosh with his mother.
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Okay, he stayed quite close to momma…
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But he’s still the only one we’ve seen out in the open.
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They’re silly critters at this age.
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And he was having a blast scampering all over the rock wall.
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There’s a big wide world out there to explore little guy….
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Enjoy!
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River's world..... 